The Daily times. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1886-1889, 1887-10-09
HOW A SENATOR FARMS.
A LOOK AT SENATOR PAlMER'S
ESTATE NEAR DETROIT.
His Wonderful Jersey Cow stable and
His Percheron Horses-Twenty Miles
of UNDERSTANDING and Sine Miles Of
Road.
Special Correspondence.l

of Underdraining and Nine Miles o
Road.
Special Correspondence
W~AsHlNCTON, Oct. 6.-No one but Z
millionaire senator could afford TO own q
place like Senator Palmer's Font Hill
farm. The 65i acres, more than a square
mile of land, lie within four miles of the
most fashionable part Of the city of De
trOit. Woodward avenue. which ranks
with Euclid avenue in Cleveland as one
Of the two most beautiful residence streets
in the world. runs by this farm. and an
electric railway carries you within a
short walk OF the house. The farm is
worth a fortune, and another fortune has
been spent upon it. A quarter of a mil
lion dollars would not buy the land
alone at current prices, and Senator
Palmer's farm manager tells me that
300 900 has been spent within the past
four years !. its improvement. Much Of
this land has been in Senator Palmer's
family since the days when the Indians
owned IL. but 10 was reserved for him 10
turn IL from swamp and marsh into as fine
a set Of fields as ever grazed a Percheron
horse or made milk producing grass for a
jersey cow. The farm now contains
twenty miles OF tile understanding. and
its many fields are joined with two miles
81 iron water pipe, through which the
great windmill AT the barn sends q con
stantly flowing stream Of well water.
There are drinking troughs in every field,
and no field is without It's clump Of trees
TO form a shady resting place for stock.
The stock there kept is OF the purest
blood. and Senator Palmer believes that in
this day of s%pecialties no farmer should
try to keep more than one breed Of fine
cattle or horses. He has confined himself
TO Jersey cows and Percheron horses. and
he went 10 England and France TO i'm
port the best animals he could
find as a basis for his farm.
The result is he stands al the head of
the Percheron horse breeders Of the United
States, and the French government has
given him a gold medal for owning the
first PercherOns I'm the country. He is
president Of the Percheron Horse society
Of the United States, and made a speech
20 a convention of the breeders Of the fin
est horses in France during his late for
eign tour. He has sixty Percheron
horses and seventy Jersey cows. Many Of
his horses are worth 1000 and upward,
and some OF the COWS will run very high
into the hundreds. His stations are
named after the famed marshals Of
France, and their weight is immense.
Marshal Lannes. only 3 years old, weighs
$40 pounds. and another marshal. at
only d year and a half. tips the beam AZ
/ $50, while a brother Of his, only 10
weeks old less than 4 months, weighs
zoo pounds.
! asked Senator Palmer how he came 10
choose the Percheron in preference 20
breeds. He replied:
1T was from a painting. was max
ing a study Of the horse when | saw Rosa
Bonheur's Horse Fair" and was
greatly struck by the action and looks Of
the horses there pictured. / found they
were Percherons. afterward saw the
horses in Paris, France. where they were
used as the omnibus Horse. Then they
were worth an ordinary price; now the
American demand for them has run their
price in France from $500 up 10 $1,000.
aud the omnibus men Of Paris have had
to use Normans."
"Then the Percheron horse is not a
Norman
'No." replied Senator Palmer; 1.-THE
Norman is coarser. slower. heavier and
enduring. The Percheron horse is
the result Of a cross between the Arabian
and the Norman. In my study Of him
noticed that he has perfect digestion, en-
him 10 do a great amount OF work
On little food. He has IA perfect temper,
and don't fret. lie is full Of Intelligence
md saves his strength, and men treat
lim better on account Of his intelligence
han they would a duller horse. His skin
$ thin. his hair fine and. combined with
he strength of the Norman. he has better
blood. bOne and wind. and his Arabian
llo0d gives him AN Of the nimbleness and 2
.peed of the English coach horse. Last D
ear more than $1,000. 600 worth OF these !
iorses were imported. and between Janu- ;
.ry and MAY of this year we brought over q
1880 600 worth. one Of the largest i'm ]
is q man named Durham. near
'hicag0. who has made himself q million
ire by bringing Percherons from France
% America. and who now imports hun q
.reds OF thousands Of dollars worth ]
early. ! bought my first horses from
)unham, and then went 10 France myself
nd imported others"
III OilDdIN WIN lNt senator 1 WdlkcQ I
Trough his barns. took a look al his cow G
rode over the farm and dined with 3
inn at the old farm house.
The colony of barns would make an O.
farmers eyes bulge out with Q
The buildings alone have cost {
than $4,000. There are acres Of D.
ards and BUILDINGS. and as much care
lmost is taken of the comfort Of the stock
s would be- taken were they SO many
IN their s|waddling clothes. The
entilatiOn of the horses stables is perfect. q
nd $50 arranged that "a draft cannot strike e
be horse nor the light shine in his eyes. u
here are stalls for about seventy horses. ID
ach horse has his ow stall on which is d
is nam in printed letters, and the his ;
by of each steed is kept in a sort Of q q
0rse book or equestrian record. !
The senators COW stables would dwarf !
Pennsylvania bank barn il they were q
beside one. They constitute u
80 story building, each floor Of which e
as an area as large rs that Of q city lot. =
'rty feet front and 100 feet deep, and s.